I Turned My Kids Beds Into A Tent!

Twinkling Stars

Yesterday, I blogged about staycations. After finishing that post, the kids were very excited about getting ready for our own staycation, so we worked hard to attack Daisy and Ella's bedroom (boy,did it need it), before using their beds in a slightly different way to make a tent.

Minecraft in the tent

Clearing out the girls bedroom was a bit of a challenge, despite me having only done it the week before! I'm sure many mothers can relate to this! Rebecca joined in and helped, given that she wanted to sleep in the tent too. Her own bedroom is too small to make a tent, and despite her insistence that she needs her own bedroom, she actually prefers to have sleepovers with her sisters!

The front cover comes down for when they want to be a
little more enclosed.

After cleaning out under the girls beds and vacuuming the bedroom, I sent Daisy and Ella downstairs to wait in the living room. I then in-listed the help of Rebecca to help me get the beds into position. We stood the frames on their ends and carefully tucked them under one of the mattresses. We then chucked a king-size throw over the top and secured it with hair toggles.

Knock knock, can I come in?

Inside the tent

After that we put the other mattress down and pushed the two together to make a large sleeping area. I then sent Rebecca off to do her own thing, so I could finish the tent alone. I wanted to surprise the girls with the finished result. I tied a duvet cover across the back of the structure, and one down each side to hide the slats. I then hung one over the front of the structure that can be pulled back out of theway when the girls want to be less enclosed. I finished off by adding fairy lights inside and by giving each of the girls a sleeping bag - no duvets on camp!

If you'd like to make your own tent, here are my top tips:

Use what you have - If you have a tent, great! Use it. If you don't, use beds, a clothes airer, chairs, sheets, duvet covers, mattresses, airbeds, piles of blankets, whatever you like.

Plenty of room for everyone

Be Creative - Try out fun ways of creating your structure, add fairy lights or bunting, throw in lots of scatter cushions, the possibilities are endless.

Make sure its safe - The very last thing you want is your tent collapsing on the kids in the middle of the night. Check that the structure is sound and check it again every morning and every night. The few minutes, you spend doing this are the difference between a fun night in the tent and a long night at the hospital!

It doesn't need to be perfectly neat, just fun.

Keep it clean - Trying to build your kids tent when you're surrounded by their chaos, is not going to end well. Get the kids to tidy up and put all of their toys, dirty washing and sweet wrappers in the correct places before you begin. And remember, you have the added bonus of a bargaining chip here! If the kids want to keep their tent up, they need to keep their bedroom tidy. After all, there probably isn't space for a mountain of toys all over the place, once you've turned their bedroom into a campsite.

Three happy campers, fast asleep!